1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to medical diagnostic equipment, and in particular to a thermal scanning system and method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Chiropractors and other health care professionals have previously used handheld devices to measure skin temperature at a variety of locations along a patient""s spinal column. The purpose of taking such measurements is to monitor skin temperatures surrounding the spine. Alterations in skin temperature readings may be indicative of abnormal autonomic nervous system activity, which in turn may indicate a spinal subluxation, or misalignment of adjacent vertebrae. Chiropractic care is directed toward locating and correcting subluxations by spinal adjustment. By creating a record of thermal readings paraspinally, i.e., along both left and fight sides of a patient""s spine, during the course of care, a chiropractor can quantitatively assess where subluxations exist, and how chiropractic care helps to alleviate them.
Prior thermal scanners have enabled users to take temperature readings in a variety of ways. Large, expensive, and complex thermography devices have been used to measure temperature at numerous locations across a patient""s entire back, enabling the user to create a xe2x80x9cthermographxe2x80x9d of the patient""s entire spinal region. These systems have not been easily portable, nor practical for use in a chiropractor""s office.
One prior art system suitable for chiropractors used a single infrared thermal sensor mounted in a hand held unit, sometimes called a xe2x80x9cpaddle.xe2x80x9d The drawback of that approach was that in order to take paraspinal readings, the user was required to take two passes along the spine, which is time consuming and inaccurate since the paraspinal readings are taken at different times.
A dual sensor thermal scanner was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,552,284 to Evins. However, that system required different paddles to be used in order to accommodate patients of different sizes, such as adults and small children.
Another prior art approach is reflected in U.S. Pat. No. 4,849,885 to Stillwagon, et al., which discloses using, for example, twelve spaced infrared sensors mounted on a single hand-held unit which is rolled along the patient""s spine. By allowing the sensors to take continuous readings as the paddle is rolled, a continuous line graph of bilateral temperatures along the spine could be generated quickly. However, that system was complex since it required that the data generated by each of the multiple sensors be processed into a data matrix. Further, this system required the user to move the paddle at a uniform rate along the user""s spine in order to properly correlate the temperature reading with the location along the patient""s spine from which the reading was taken.
Smaller, simpler devices using only two infrared sensors mounted on a hand-held paddle have also been used in the chiropractic field. One such system has been marketed by Titronics Research and Development Company of Oxford, Iowa as the xe2x80x9cTyTron C-3000.xe2x80x9d This system also used the continuous xe2x80x9crollingxe2x80x9d technique. One drawback, however, was that since the infrared sensors were spaced apart a fixed distance, in order to take readings from different sized patients, the scanner had to be used in a different mode requiring multiple passes along the spine. In particular, a first pass was needed to take readings from one thermal sensor on one side of the spine, and a second pass was required to take readings from the other side of the spine.
A prior infrared sensor device was also marketed by EMG Consultants, Inc. of Maywood, N.J. as the xe2x80x9cInsight 7000 Thermal Scanner.xe2x80x9d This system utilized two separate hand-held paddles, each incorporating a single infrared sensor. Thus, left and right side paraspinal readings could be taken simultaneously from patients of different sizes. One drawback of that system, however, was that the user was required to use both hands to hold the paddles. Also, that system did not permit continuous, or xe2x80x9crollingxe2x80x9d scans, but rather was limited to a series of static or discrete readings at selected locations. However, it did permit scanning at discrete locations off the paraspinal axis by holding the two paddles at different angles. This enabled readings at the anterior fossia of the ears, referred to as the xe2x80x9catlas,xe2x80x9d or the vertebra marked C1, which was not possible with prior xe2x80x9crollingxe2x80x9d scanners.
While the foregoing summary identifies some of the drawbacks of the prior art, it is not an exhaustive listing of all the features of the prior art, nor of all the differences between the present invention and the prior art.
Thus, a need exists for a simple, easy to use, hand-held thermal scanning device which is adaptable for use with patients of various sizes. Moreover, a need exists for a system which accurately correlates temperature readings with the location along the patient""s spine from which the reading is taken.
The present invention relates to an improved thermal scanning system, device and method. The present invention has several advantages and features. First, one embodiment of the thermal scanning device is advantageously adaptable to scan patients of various anatomical sizes, such as an infant, a child or an adult patient. The adaptability of the thermal scanning device eliminates the cost of purchasing and maintaining three separate instruments, one adapted for an infant, another adapted for a child and another adapted for an adult.
Second, one embodiment of the thermal scanning device provides more accurate mapping of thermal data by: (1) calculating the distance traveled by the device; and (2) allowing a user to annotate the location of various anatomical landmarks, such as particular regions of a patient""s spinal column. The distance-calculating ability of the present invention improves the accuracy of temperature mappings for each section of the spine. In addition, the ability to calculate the distance traveled and to annotate the location of various anatomical landmarks eliminates the need to roll a thermal scanning device up a patient""s spine at a uniform rate. In other words, the preferred embodiment of the thermal scanning device does not record time-dependent data. Thus, the user does not have to start the scan over if the user advances the thermal scanning device at an irregular pace along a patient""s back. One disadvantage of repeating the thermal scan is that the patient""s skin temperature changes after the initial scan, in part due to contact between the scanner and the skin surrounding the spine. The preferred thermal scanning device minimizes repeat scans, a drawback commonly associated with a time-dependent thermal scanning device.
Third, an embodiment of the thermal scanning device allows the user to alternate between static temperature readings at discrete locations, and continuous rolling temperature scanning. A single system capable of operating in both xe2x80x9crollingxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cstaticxe2x80x9d modes has not been previously available.
Fourth, the thermal scanning system provides graphical readouts and data analysis of instantaneous bilateral differential temperature. The rolling operation of the thermal scanning device allows the user to scan multiple points on the skin consecutively and observe localized changes in skin temperature.
One aspect of the invention relates to a thermal scanning system adapted to scan skin temperature on opposite sides of a patient""s spinal column for patients of different sizes. The thermal scanning system comprises a handheld body, a plurality of temperature sensors comprising a first sensor, a second sensor and a third sensor. The sensors are coupled to the body and arranged in a pattern. The first and second sensors are spaced and adapted to scan skin temperature on opposite sides of a patient""s spinal column for patients of a first size range. The second and third sensors are spaced and adapted to scan skin temperature on opposite sides of a patient""s spinal column for patients of a second size range. The first and third sensors are spaced and adapted to scan skin temperature on opposite sides of a patient""s spinal column for patients of a third size range.
Another aspect of the invention relates to a thermal scanning system adapted to scan skin temperature on opposite sides of a patient""s spinal column as a user advances a handheld scanning device along the patient""s spinal column. The thermal scanning system comprises a handheld body, a first and a second temperature sensor and a detector. The first temperature sensor scans a left portion of the patient""s spinal column. The second temperature sensor scans a right portion of the patient""s spinal column. The detector detects a distance traveled by the handheld body along the patient""s spinal column.
Another aspect of the invention relates to a method of scanning skin temperature on opposite sides of a patient""s spinal column for patients of different sizes. The method comprises selecting two out of three thermal sensors which are arranged in a pattern, placing the two sensors on opposite sides of a patient""s spinal column, and scanning skin temperature with the two sensors on opposite sides of the patient""s spinal column. Another aspect of the invention relates to a method of scanning skin temperature on opposite sides of a patient""s spinal column. The method comprises advancing a handheld scanning device along the patient""s spinal column, scanning a left portion of the patient""s spinal column with a first temperature sensor, scanning a right portion of the patient""s spinal column with a second temperature sensor, and detecting a distance traveled by the handheld scanning device along the patient""s spinal column.